Under the Influence
by Lady StarFlower
Summary: "What about you, Sakura?" Leo finally asks. "When alcohol breaks down your walls…." He runs a finger down her cheek slowly, gently, tantalizingly, "…what will I see?" Leo/Sakura. Revelations Route. Incoming Fluff!


**A/N: A divergence from the usually angsty stuff I like to write for Leo and Sakura. Fluff in abundance, 'cause quite frankly, they need it after all I put them through. :D**

"You're mesmerizing. Did you know that?"

Sakura trips over her own feet, nearly causing him to follow suit. When she has recovered, her face is the color of a ripe tomato.

And Leo _loves_ tomatoes.

"You r-really did have a lot to drink, didn't you?" Her stammer is the cutest thing in the world to hear, and somewhere in his wine-addled brain Leo makes a mental reminder to lavish compliments on her more often.

"Only as much as the next person." He replies carefully, the shreds of his royal dignity just preventing him from slurring syllables. "The day calls for a hearty celebration, does it not?"

"Y-yeah." Sakura adjusts his arm over her shoulder, giving a soft little sigh. "A whole year since we d-defeated Anankos. It only feels like yesterday, right?"

"So much has changed since then." Leo answers absently, transfixed by the dusting of pink on Sakura's face at their proximity. He's so preoccupied that he stumbles over the cobbling of the garden walk, and steadies himself clumsily. "Forgive me. I seem to possess the grace of a bear when inebriated."

Sakura giggles quietly, a hand covering her mouth. "It's o-okay. Takumi gets really loud when he drinks too much, while Big S-sis Hinoka gets really, really competitive. Big Bro Ryoma is a d-dramatic drunk."

"That would explain the commotion." Leo looks back at the Vallite dining hall, where inside brims with music, firelight, and roars of cheerful celebration. "Is….is Takumi _singing_?"

"He does that." Sakura laughs aloud again, and Leo feels content and serene, the wine in his blood stream buoying him to pleasant heights. The night air smells so fresh, and the Hoshidan princess' warmth beside him reminds him of summer.

"What about you, Sakura?" Leo finally asks, settling her weight against him so that he's the one holding her upright. When she gasps, he grins and lowers his voice. "When alcohol breaks down your walls…." He runs a finger down her cheek slowly, gently, tantalizingly, staring unwaveringly down at her, "…what will I see?"

Sakura's eyes are as wide as saucers, her mouth half-open in shock. For a moment, time freezes. They stand there, his eyes dark as obsidian, her skin as white as marble. The summer-scented breeze caresses their forms, stirring his gilded tunic and her festival gown until to any onlooker, they looked like spirits from another realm.

Finally, Leo laughs softly, breaking the spell. He lets his arm fall. "Apologies. I was a bit too bold there for a moment." Coughing with an embarrassed air, he turns away, trying to calm the sudden racing beat of his heart. _What in Dusk Dragon was that about, you fool?!_

But Sakura is silent, her face hidden from him by the curtain of amaranth hair. When Leo looks down at her again, fearing for a moment that he has probably scarred her for life, she abruptly leans up and kisses him on the cheek.

This time, he is the one to turn scarlet. "Sa-sakura?!"

She's smiling at him now, and it's the kind of wide smile that holds absolutely nothing back. Her voice, though frightfully quiet, is steady and sure. "You don't need wine to see past my walls."

Leo stares at her in some kind of entranced awe, and she quickly loses composure, burying her face in his chest with a mortified squeak. "I can't believe I-I said that….!"

But now he's laughing; ringing, surprised, joyous laughter that bubbles up from the heart, and the carefree sound coaxes a shy, light laugh from her as well. He grips her hands, and swings her in an excited circle until they're twirling like stars in orbit.

As they spin, laughing like children, Leo is certain that the rush in his blood and the heat in his cheeks has nothing to do with the wine.


End file.
